New Brightbird Espresso managers find silver lining in community support and perseverance amid pandemic

New Brightbird Espresso owner Anton Habel and sister Rebekah Mahmoud moved into the Liebig street cafe in November, seeing an opportunity to combine their careers in hospitality.

But the coronavirus pandemic struck reducing staff numbers to about half because the new business had operated for less than 12 months and casuals were ineligible for JobKeeper.

"We never thought within months of buying a restaurant it would be illegal for people to sit down and eat," Ms Mahmoud said.

"Initially in the first week or two of lockdown we were going backwards, but then the coffee was able to hold its own."

Determined to keep the doors open, she said the remaining staff found ways to "plug the gaps", finding community support "really came through".

"It would have been easier and less stressful to just close it but we wouldn't have been able to let an apprentice finish their training and we also thought it would take longer to get things going again," Ms Mahmoud said.

"We can count ourselves really lucky that we have had strong support from locals."

The former Tasty Plate Catering worker said the school holidays were "massive" sending the business "scrambling" to re-employ staff.

"And then with the new lockdown we have dropped of a cliff in the last week. The last week's takings have been as low as the first week of lockdown in March. It is going to depend on the numbers and what sort of infection rates there are," she said.

Now Ms Mahmoud says some customers are also becoming resentful of restrictions in the cafe and she's urging everyone to stay mindful of pressures on businesses.

"There has been a surprising amount of opposition to the rules. We love having people here but we need to make sure it's done safely," she said.

"We can't afford to have as many staff as we would have, and they have to take people's details and sanitise more often. It takes a bit longer. Have tolerance that most businesses are overstretched at the same time as not being able to make as much.

"Every business is doing their best."

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